My back yard is on a lake and is basically a swamp.  There are 36 pond cypress trees that lead down to the lake and while I do love them and the shady environment they provide, it certainly says a lot about the topography of my backyard. It’s low laying and during the heavy rains of summer, and the occasional tropical storm, there is often standing water.  Needless to say, trying to enjoy the deck in late afternoons is almost impossible.  Mosquitoes are everywhere.  They bite your feet, they bite you though the backs of your chair, they buzz your ears.  They make harder work of every outdoor task.

I hate mosquito repellent.  I hate how it smells, I hate how it feels on my skin, I just hate it.  So I started experimenting with a few “alternative mosquito control” products: I’ve tried citronella candles etc. nope.. do not work for me!  I use essential oil blends from Holy Trinity Essential Oils. I fill a small 4 oz spray bottle with witch hazel, a tad of coconut oil and a dropper full of lemon oil and a dropper full of eucalyptus oil. Peppermint oil works too.   This DOES help, but i stress the word “help”. It doesn’t get rid of them all. I wouldn’t walk through the Amazon Jungle with only that! But it IS multipurpose… you can use it in the air, and use it on your skin and on the bites! It smells fresh and clean.

Then, I read about the “blue mouthwash” technique.  I tried it.  I actually think its working!  BUT every time it rains, which is every day, I have to reapply it.  Here is the recipe so you can try it.

Blue Mouthwash Mosquito Treatment:

1 large cheap “blue” mouthwash.  I got mine at Dollar General and bought the 50oz one.

2 cups of Epsom Salts

2 stale beers 12oz.  (just open a couple of cans or bottles and let ’em sit for an hour)

Mix these ingredients in a bucket until the Epsom Salts are absorbed, then pour into 1 quart squirt bottles.  Spray your area.  Spray decks, patios, chair backs, under patio tables,  moist areas, grass, plants, and any dark damp spot.  I truly feel like it helps.  Let me know your experience!

A product I fell in love with at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas this year was the DynaTrap.  This is a unique product worth investigating.  It comes in three basic models: A one acre version (in image), a half acre version, and a little home model designed for indoor use.  They also come in various configurations you can see here on Amazon. This is how it works.  You place it in your yard.. NOT close to where people hang out (it does require a power supply) It sends out CO2 and has a UV light that attracts mosquitoes ( and other bugs).  It has a fan that doubles as the co2 dispenser and the sucking mechanism. As the mosquitoes approach to check out the co2 scent, they are sucked into a trap! HAHAAAAAH!   The DynaTrap folks explained to us that you do not turn it off. It is designed to run 24-7.  What this does is, over time, is reduce your overall mosquito population in a continuing kill of  breeding mosquitoes which will drastically reduce the mosquito population.  It makes no noise other than the fan, that is very quiet.   In other words, there is no electrical zapping sound.  Since it won’t be located near your hang out zones, you almost don’t know it’s working… until you empty the trap.. which will totally amaze you with the amount of bugs the Dynatrap has captured!

Here’s the Dynatrap Video on how it works 🙂

DynaTrap – How it Works – 2017 from DynaTrap on Vimeo.

Hopefully you’ll find some of these mosquito repelling/killing ideas work for you!  Oh.. if you buy from my Amazon link, i get a small commission from Amazon that does not affect your cost or Amazon experience in anyway.

If you try any of these techniques for mosquito control I’d love to hear about your experiences… feel free to leave a comment or share my article!

Babs